completely
satisfied, but the knowledge that she did her best to ensure no innocents were
harmed seemed to appease him. For the next few days, they were content to
exist, to grow, to learn.
CHAPTER 5
“Are you ever going to come back
to your own bed, Elsbeth?”
The question startled her so that
she nearly dropped the match she’d been using to light the candles in the
living room area. “What?” She blinked, that familiar image of the two of them
rolling around on her feather mattress rising up to taunt her again. Her eyes
settled on Thomas, whose hip was propped against the chintz couch, clad in the
black hunting gear that fit him like a glove. Why did he have to look so good?
“I… I didn’t think you would be comfortable with that.”
Silence. Then, “I meant that I
would be willing to take the guest room as opposed to forcing you out of your
own bedroom.”
“Oh.” Cheeks burning, she turned
away. “It’s really no trouble at all. You’re a guest here, and I want you to be
comfortable.”
Her sensitive hearing picked up
his footfalls, his breathing, the displacement of the air behind her. The
warmth radiating off him told her he stood scant inches from her back, but she
refused to turn around even though her pulse was thundering like that of a
living woman’s.
He brushed a curl that had
escaped her topknot from her neck, and traced the spot where it had been,
sending shivers up and down her spine. “Would you rather share your bed with
me, Elsbeth?”
She turned slowly, and though she
desperately wanted to search his face to see what he’d meant by that, she
couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. “Don’t be silly. We both know you
don’t really want me.”
“Elsbeth.” He gently gripped her
slightly rounded chin with his fingertips and lifted her face so she had no
choice but to stare into his eyes. They were a light hazel, and filled with a
tenderness that made her throat ache. “I know you didn’t mean to put me in
harm’s way that night. I’ve said some harsh things since that time, but I can’t
hold onto my anger against you. You’ve been unbearably kind, and you don’t
deserve to be put through an emotional hell because of something someone else
did to me. Don’t punish yourself for something you didn’t do.”
Elsbeth sighed and pushed him
away. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to sleep with me simply because you
feel guilty for speaking to me in anger. Not that you didn’t have any right to
say those things to me. Your circumstances were brought about by my actions.”
His eyes flashed, though they
remained human in color, and he pressed her up against the wall. “Do I look
like a man who wants to have sex with a woman out of guilt? Do I feel like
one?” He pushed his erection against her hip, and she gasped. “You’re still
thinking with your guilt, Elsbeth. See me for what I am. See yourself for
what you are: A beautiful woman with a sense of honor and duty, a woman who has
taught me to take my new life and make something of it. It’s not guilt that I
feel toward you, but gratitude. And I am more than willing to show you my
appreciation for everything you’ve done for me.”
He lowered his lips and caught
hers in a gentle kiss, one that curled her toes and sent warmth rushing through
every inch of her skin. His lips were warm and inviting, and he brushed them
back and forth over hers, coaxing her into responding. She slid her hands up to
cup either side of his jaw, loving the way his stubble teased her fingers as
she kissed him back, slipping her tongue between his lips. She smiled as he
groaned, then gasped as he dug his fingers into her butt cheeks and hauled her
up so that she had to wrap her legs around his lean hips to keep them from
dangling.
Thomas tasted Elsbeth with the
same fervor that a man dying of thirst might slurp water. She might have been
undead, but she responded with the same passion and enthusiasm of any woman.
True, her skin